“Good.”
Trina stares at me expectantly. What does she want? I apologized. I get back to work on my homework. This assignment is kicking my ass. I thought I understood the chapter, but I’m beginning to think I misunderstood everything.
My tutor was going to help me. I might have ruined that opportunity.
“Do I have something on my face?” I ask with more attitude than I intended. I don’t know what it is about Trina that seems to bring out the inner monster I didn’t know I had.
Trina rolls her eyes. “I’m waiting for you to ask for my help. You’re doing that problem wrong.”
“I’ll figure it out on my own, thanks.”
“Then you won’t get the form you need.”
“You’re really not going to sign your name on a piece of paper because I won’t let you condescend me? Wow, what a great tutor.”
“I can’t be a great tutor if you won’t accept my help.”
“I don’t want your help if you’re going to be a bitch about it!”
Something changes on Trina’s face. She has hated me since the moment I entered her office and I’m not sure why. All of a sudden, it’s like I’ve validated every negative feeling she has towards me. I don’t get it. This is the first time we’ve met. How can someone I don’t know hate me to this level?
“I am not a bitch,” Trina says through gritted teeth. “I tried to be nice and that didn’t work.”
I bark out a laugh. “You call any of this session nice? You’ve been awful to me since I got here.”
“I have not.”
“You have. You and Ben had a great conversation about me. I’m guessing he forced you to come back here.”
“How’s it going in here?” Ben says. Weird that he showed up right when I was talking about him.
“Fine,” Trina says harshly at the same time I say, “Fantastic.”
Ben drops an iced coffee on Trina’s desk and leaves without another word. He does give Trina a harsh look. Maybe she’ll get into trouble for the way she’s treating me.
My stomach sinks. I don’t want her to get into trouble. There’s this weird tension between us. I suppose it could be the hatred Trina has for me, but I think it’s more. It almost feels like we have a connection.
Trina blows out a breath. “Let’s try this again. I see you are doing this problem incorrectly. Can I help you fix it?”
“No.”
“Why the fuck not?”
I nearly laugh. The swear sounds weird coming from Trina’s mouth. She seems like the kind who doesn’t use that language. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe she has the vocabulary of a sailor. It’s not like we know each other. We met twenty minutes ago.
“Because I don’t trust you to not make me feel like an idiot.”
Trina’s face softens just a little bit. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“You already are.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to. Let’s try this again.”
“That would be good.”
Trina leans forward and points to a step in the problem I’ve been working on. “You did the problem before this one correctly. I think you were rushing, so you flipped two steps. If you switch these two, you’ll get the answer.”
I look down at the paper and see Trina is right. It would’ve taken me twenty more minutes to finish this problem, and then I would’ve had to do it all again because of these two flipped steps.
“Thank you,” I say. “Now will you sign my form?”
“No.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because you’re still working on your own and I had to basically rip your teeth out to get you to accept my help.”
“I don’t think that’s the metaphor.”
“I’m a math major, not an English major.”
“And I’m in civil engineering. I can handle some work on my own. Like I told you, my coach forced me to be here. I don’t need help.”
“You needed my help on that problem.”
“I would’ve figured it out…”
“I know how shitty your professor is. Why won’t you let me help?”
At this point, it’s more about stubbornness than anything else. I feel like I have to hold out. I can’t give in to Trina’s tutoring. I still don’t believe she can help me without being a jerk about it. I have a fragile ego and I don’t respond well to condescension. At least I can admit that.
“Because I don’t want your help. I want to do it on my own.”
Trina sighs. “How did you end up in civil engineering anyway? It’s not exactly the kind of major football players usually pick.”
“You’re stereotyping.”
“Am I wrong?”
“Nope.”
Trina laughs. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just curious.”
“Honestly, I don’t know if football will work out. I’ll probably get drafted, but what if I get injured or dropped and no one picks me up? I need a backup plan. I figured I may as well do something I enjoy if football isn’t my path. I love math, and building bridges and stuff sounds cool.”
“That’s a pretty good reason to pick a major.”
“Why’d you pick math?”
“I’ve always been good at it. I’m going to become a math professor someday. Once I earn my PhD.”
“Wow, that’s impressive.”
“Thanks. Can we go over your work now?”
“How about I keep working and if I need you, I’ll ask you?”
Trina huffs. “This isn’t how it works, Carter. If you’re not going to take tutoring seriously, you’re wasting my time. I could have another student in here who needs and wants my help.”
I consider leaving. This obviously isn’t going to work out with Trina. She has some kind of bias against me, and I’m too headstrong to listen to her. We’re not a good match.
I get up and leave the office, including all my things. Ben is still at his desk.
“Is there anyone else who can help me?”
Ben sighs. “Is it really that bad? It got quiet in there, so I assumed you were working.”
“Were you listening at the door or something?”
“Yes,” Ben says plainly.
“Then you know I can’t work with Trina.”
“Listen, she has a thing about football players. I don’t know what it is or why, but she made me promise to never make her work with anyone on the team. That’s why she’s mad. If you two can work it out, I think it’d be good for both of you.”
“So she’s taking her football player hate out on me? I never did anything to her.”
Ben throws up his hands. “I’m sorry, I wish I knew more.”
“Put me with a different tutor.”
“Trina is the only person who can help you with that class.”
“Then sit me with someone else. Or let me study here and you can fill out my form.”
Ben frowns. “I’m sorry, Carter, but I can’t do that. Your coach has me on strict orders to make sure you’re getting actual help. Trina is your only option. Are you sure you can’t work it out?”
“I’ll try.”
“Good. If it’s that bad after a couple sessions, we’ll re-evaluate, okay?”
“Thanks, Ben.”
I trudge back to Trina’s office.
“Let me guess. Ben told you I’m your only hope, and we have no choice but to work together?”
“He did.”
“Then let’s get to it. I went over your homework assignment and you got most of the questions right. It seems like there’s one step that throws you. I can go over that with you.”
“If we’re going to do this, I need you to be helpful, not hurtful. Don’t teach me with attitude.”
“I won’t, I promise. I’m sorry I’ve alienated you so far. I’ll be a better tutor. I think I can genuinely help you ace this class.”
“Okay. Then let’s do it.”
Our tentative truce lasts until the end of my session. I get through the homewo
rk assignment and Trina teaches me a trick that makes it so much easier. I wish our professor had told us this. I’ll have to share the trick with my classmates. We have a slack group to talk about problems. I’ll post it there.
“That wasn’t so bad, right?” Trina asks when my session is over.
“It was kind of torture.”
“For both of us. Ben will set up your next appointment. Same time next week, right?”
I nod. This is the only free time I have, really. It’s eating into my gym time. I leave Trina’s office without another word and set my next appointment with Ben. Dennis gets to the desk right as Ben is finalizing things. I wait for him to make his next appointment and then the two of us leave.
“Man, that was awful,” I say. “My tutor fucking hates me. I have no idea why. It was a horrible session.”
Dennis looks shocked. “Really? That’s weird. I enjoyed my time. I’m actually going to try and get in twice a week for two different classes. The paper we went over today is a hundred times better than it was when I walked in.”
“I’m glad you’re getting something out of this. Don’t tell coach. He might force future players into the same thing.”
“Wouldn’t want anyone benefiting from the tutoring center,” Dennis says with a laugh. “I think your experience was unique. Part of it might be that you don’t want the help.”
I know Dennis is right, but it’s not entirely on me. Trina was being a jerk, too. Ben’s comments about her hating football players makes sense. I’m not sure I get it, but at least it explains her attitude towards me.
My new goal is to change her opinion of football players. I’m still not so sure about the tutoring, but if it means getting a new member of my fan club, I’ll do it.
Dennis and I hit the weight room. Working out helps expel the negative energy from my failed tutoring session. With every rep, I wonder if I was being more antagonistic than I needed to be. Trina was right to fight me. I treated her like shit at first.
She wasn’t great to me, either, but it’s something we both need to work on. I’m willing to give it a shot. I hope Trina is, too.
Her face fills my vision as I lift weights. Trina is a beautiful girl with her brown hair and big brown eyes. Those light pink lips drew me in, too. Not that I can ever do anything about my attraction to her. It would be pointless to try something with my tutor. She’s too professional for that. I don’t want a relationship right now.
Even so, I can’t get her out of my head.
These tutoring sessions might be harder than I thought.
Chapter 5
Trina
“You’re being dramatic, Trin.”
I stare at my roommate, Jamie. She and I have lived together since our sophomore year. We got put together randomly and hit it off. This year, we’re in a two-bedroom apartment just off campus. It’s close enough to walk, but far enough that we’re not dealing with all the noise.
I love Jamie to death. She’s one of my best friends. But, she is wrong. I’m not being dramatic.
“Carter Jenkins is the worst person on the planet. That’s not drama, it’s a fact.”
Jamie laughs. “Are you really saying there is no one worse on this planet?”
“Exactly.”
“Trina.”
“I mean it!”
“Will you tell me what he said that made you hate him so much?”
“No.”
“Then how am I supposed to empathize with you?”
I sigh. “Can’t you just tell me I’m right?”
“Sorry, I’m not here to be your yes man. You know this by now.”
I do. Jamie is the person I call when I need a realistic response. If I want someone to tell me to do something, buy something, whatever, I’ll call Jess. Jamie will tell me yes or no based on a logical evaluation of the situation.
Just this once, though, I wish Jamie would cave in. I can’t tell her what Carter said. I vowed to never repeat it. The vow was only with myself, but it matters. If I can’t keep a vow with myself, how will I ever keep one with someone else?
“I don’t get your hatred for all football players. I know the one guy got handsy and I hate him more than anything in the world, and I’m glad he was never drafted by the NFL and is probably working at a car wash or something, but I don’t think that warrants such a deep-seeded dislike of all football players.”
Jamie says all of this in one breath. I admire my friend’s ability to fit so many words into a small amount of air. It makes sense that she’s the athlete between the two of us. If I tried to give a speech like that, I’d be panting right now.
“I guess all the little things piled up. Carter, though, is the worst of them. And now I have to be his damn tutor.”
“Yeah, but still. And you know it pains me to say this because I hate the ‘not all blah blah’ thing. But, not all football players are bad.”
“They are. Every single one of them.”
“You know I have a few friends on the team.”
I roll my eyes. “I do, and it’s your biggest betrayal.”
“In my defense, I met some of them before I met you.”
“True, but still. I don’t know how you can stand to be around them.”
“Maybe because they’re really not bad. You had some awful experiences, but you should give them a chance.”
I shake my head. “They don’t deserve a chance.”
“So you’re going to give up on Carter?”
“Of course not. It’s my job to tutor him. But it’s not my job to be nice to him.”
Jamie sighs. “Come on, Trin. It can’t be easy for Carter to be at tutoring. You should try and be cordial.”
“I’m not going to be mean, I promise. But I’m not going out of my way to be nice. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“I guess that’s as good as I’m going to get.”
“It is. But guess what?”
“What?”
“Ben looked amazing today.”
Jamie laughs. “You think Ben looks amazing every day.”
She has a point. The thing is, Ben does look amazing every day. He’s a gorgeous specimen of a man. It should be illegal for him to look that attractive.
“True. Today, though, he was wearing a blue shirt and it made his blue eyes look even more blue than usual.”
I flop down on the couch in a swoon. Jamie laughs at me from her perch on the chair. Our apartment is sparsely decorated, but it works for us. We’re on campus most of the time, anyway. Jamie and I both grew up in Connecticut, so we both go home most weekends. This Friday night is one of the rare times we’re both here, and it’s because we both have to meet with our advisors tomorrow morning.
Yes, Saturday morning advising appointments are the worst. However, it was the only time either of us could get. We’re even in different programs, but it doesn’t matter. We waited too long and now we have no choice. The meetings are the make sure we have everything set so we can graduate on time. I’m willing to sacrifice a Saturday morning to ensure I get my degree in May.
“I can’t believe how far gone you are for this guy. I’ve met him, and he’s not that great.”
I sit up. “Take it back!”
Jamie laughs. “I guess you’ve spent a little more time with him than I have.”
“Exactly.”
“Why don’t you ask him out?”
“He’s my boss. It’s complicated.”
“I get that. He won’t be your boss in a few months, though. You should ask him out then.”
“I don’t even know if he’s interested. What if he turns me down?”
“It’ll suck, but you’ll get over it. You’ve faced rejection before.”
I cringe at the memory. Just last week, I was turned down for an internship in the math department. I don’t know why. I’m more than qualified. I’m guessing it’s because I’d be interning on top of being an undergraduate assistant for a class. Our school makes sure not to overburden students.
> Still, the internship would’ve padded my grad school application.
“True, but not on this level. I really like him.”
“I’m sure he feels the same way.”
“I have no idea how to tell.”
“You’ll have a few months to figure it out.”
“You really think I should ask him out?”
“I do.”
I smile at the thought. It would be nice to go on a date with Ben. If he’s not going to make the first move, why can’t I?
“How should I do it? I’ve never asked anyone out before.”
Jamie considers this. We both know she has a lot more experience in the dating scene. She has had three boyfriends and two girlfriends since we started living together. I’ve dated exactly zero people in that same period of time. I did make out with a few guys, but that’s it. There haven’t been any prospects until I met Ben.
“I think you should keep it simple. Just ask him if he wants to go out with you over winter break.”
“That sounds easy enough.”
“Yeah. And it gives you time to get to know him. I know you think you like him a lot, but you really do barely know him.”
I scoff. “Come one, Jamie. We spent the entire summer together. I know we’re not totally acquainted, but I know him well enough to like him.”
“True, but weren’t you in a group most of the time when you were in the tutoring center over the summer? There was another tutor with you. Plus, any of the students you worked with.”
“There was another tutor, but it was mostly just the two of us. That’s how I was able to fall for him. I can see a future with him.”
Jamie’s eyes widen. “Whoa, take it easy. You haven’t even been on a date with the guy. In fact, you haven’t so much as seen him outside of the tutoring center.”
I open my mouth to tell Jamie she’s wrong, but it’s actually true. I’ve never run into Ben on campus or anything. He didn’t go here for his undergrad, and I’m not in any graduate English classes, so it makes sense we wouldn’t know each other. Still, we could run into each other at the coffee shop or something.
“Should I orchestrate some meetings outside of the tutoring center? I could find out when he gets coffee…”
Jamie laughs. “Don’t go that far. I’m sure it’ll happen eventually. It’s bound to. Until then, take it slow. You want to get to know him until it’s time to ask him out. The better friends you are, the more likely he’ll say yes.”
Jock Blocked: An Enemies to Lovers Sports Romance Page 3